Sunny wary of bounce at World Cup

Arafat Sunny and Taijul Islam have been brought together for the first time after earning themselves the two specialist spinners' spots in Bangladesh's World Cup squad. The Bangladesh team is balanced in a way that Sunny and Taijul have to fight for a place next to Shakib Al Hasan in the playing XI, but both spinners are expected to play at least a few games in the tournament.

Even though Sunny and Taijul are both left-arm spinners, they bowl and think quite differently. While Sunny is known to focus more on economy and bowl flatter lengths on to the stumps, Taijul bowls with more flight and tries to turn the ball both ways.

"Taijul flights and turns the ball while I bowl wicket to wicket," Sunny said. "We are very different bowlers. I try to put a check on the runs. This has always been my plan and when it comes off, the team is benefited greatly. Bowling is slightly easier in our conditions because the ball keeps low. But we will start preparing for Australia from here, as well as the two weeks we will get in Brisbane."

Sunny and Taijul were picked ahead of the experienced Abdur Razzak and the legspinner Jubair Hossain, in what many thought were conservative picks. Even the coach Chandika Hathurusingha said he wanted Jubair to be in the squad to add variety and a wicket-taking option.

The numbers, though, weigh in Sunny and Taijul's favour. Sunny took 16 wickets from eight ODIs last year, while Taijul is Bangladesh's second highest Test wicket-taker, and ended the year with a unique ODI record: becoming the first bowler to take a hat-trick on ODI debut. Razzak took just three wickets in six ODIs in 2014, while Jubair was ultimately not considered due to his lack of experience at every level.

Sunny said he was confident that despite the different conditions in Australia, success may come to the spinners in the Bangladesh squad due to the extra bounce on offer, and larger outfields.

"We have our head coach Hathurusingha who has worked in Australia for a long time. We will make use of his experience. The difference in conditions between Australia and ours is obviously the bounce. We bowl on low wickets. There, it will bounce a bit more. I don't think there would be too many other differences. I think we will do well if we can pitch the ball in the right areas. The spinners' advantage will also be the big grounds in Australia. Maybe if they go after us, it won't go too far."

Taijul said that confidence matters for him, and that like many in the Bangladesh team, he is also keeping a keen eye on the international and domestic cricket taking place in Australia this season. He added that he was targeting to end among the top 10 wicket-takers at the World Cup.

"I will try to take help from senior cricketers like Shakib bhai and Mashrafe bhai who have played in those conditions. We are watching the Big Bash and the India-Australia series, which I feel will also benefit us. We bowled in bouncy wickets in the West Indies.

"It is important to be confident. I am thinking of performing in the World Cup. I am not thinking about the single ODI that I have played. I have played the DPL and BPL in the past, but I think it is a person's confidence that is most important. First I have to think of my team and then myself. I will try to be among the top ten bowlers. "

Both bowlers agreed that they only started thinking of being in the World Cup squad after the ODI series against Zimbabwe. Sunny only started to think about a spot after taking the two consecutive four-wicket hauls, while Taijul's thoughts moved to the World Cup after his ODI debut.

"I thought of making it to the one-day side when I first played Test cricket. I wanted to go to a good place by making use of the opportunities. Of course my debut ODI performance was important," Taijul said

Sunny, on the other hand, said: "I really started to think about the World Cup squad after I got those 10 wickets in three matches against Zimbabwe. I wasn't really sure that I would be in the team, but I didn't force the issue. For me, playing cricket is important."